Disrespectful sigh? A man who was handcuffed says his civil rights were 'kind of violated'
By Lisa Rosetta The Salt Lake Tribune

Kent Jacobson had never set foot in 3rd District Court until Feb. 24, when he watched his brother stand before a judge on a charge of wanton destruction of wildlife.

The judge, Leslie Lewis, was cordial with defendants - until his brother's case was called. Then, he said, she did a "360."

"When she found out it was a hunting deal, she got madder than hell."

Within a few minutes, Jacobson would find himself before the judge, then handcuffed and detained in a holding cell.

His offense: apparently challenging her moral assumptions about deer hunting.

Lewis, however, said that Jacobson was disruptive and in "contempt of court," though she never articulated that to him and he has not been charged.

Jacobson's ordeal began in November, when his brother, Michael Jacobson, helped transport a trophy deer worth $8,000 that a friend had poached.

Lewis, who said she recently had a harrowing experience in which a hunter fired a shot that narrowly missed her head, recused herself from the poaching case.

"I cannot in all honesty tell you that I believe I could be fair. I have a prejudice concerning deer hunting and people who kill deer and transport deer who have been shot," she said during the Feb. 24 hearing.

It was a fair move, Kent Jacobson thought.

But it was her line of questioning afterward, he said, that raised his ire. While Lewis' clerk searched for another judge to take the case, she began peppering Michael Jacobson with questions, which The Tribune reviewed in a videotape of the proceedings.

"Have you ever actually looked at a deer when they're alive?"

Jacobson answered yes.

"And it doesn't bother you that you can see their heart beating?" the judge persisted.

No answer.

"I'm asking you a question. I expect an answer," Lewis said.

"Yeah," Jacobson said.

"Were you starving? Did you need the meat?"

"I wasn't the one who shot the animal," Jacobson said.

"Would you have stopped your friend?"

"Nope, I wasn't there at all," he said.

The clerk then reassigned the case to Judge Deno Himonas and as the clerk looked up his calender, Kent Jacobson stood up from his seat in the back of the courtroom, sighed and walked out.

His action apparently upset Lewis, who ordered a bailiff to bring him back to the courtroom.

"Now," she said, "why did you feel the need to make such an explosive and clear indication of your displeasure or boredom at being here?"

"OK," he said, " it's not just the displeasure of being bored here. The problem is we have just as much rights as going out and shooting deer as you have the right . . ."

Lewis interrupted him, and said in a loud voice, "What are you talking about?"

An obviously irritated Lewis told Kent Jacobson that he had no right to chastise her, that the two of them were not in equal positions and that she did not make a comment that he had any right to correct. She pointed out that when she asked him if he was bored, he answered, "yes."

"Well, I was bored," Kent Jacobson mumbled as the bailiff walked him out.

After being held handcuffed for about 20 minutes, Kent Jacobson was escorted by a bailiff through another courtroom and released. He has not been charged with any crime relating to the incident.

His first - and what he hopes will be his last - experience in a 3rd District courtroom was over.

"She had no right to do that to me because she asked what my opinion was and she didn't like it," he said Friday, adding that he believes the judge "kind of violated" his civil rights.

"To me, [hunting] is a tradition. We've been brought up in it. I respect deer, I respect all animals. Our family has been hunters for hundreds of years in this country," he said.

Kent Jacobson insists he's not a troublemaker. He walked out of Lewis' courtroom because he didn't want to make a bigger scene.

Lewis denies any wrongdoing. On Feb. 24, she said, her courtroom was packed with people. She had 70 cases to read through. Kent Jacobson was disruptive, and it was her responsibility, as judge, to maintain order in her court.

"I think it's a sign of disrespect to indicate you are disgusted and bored by court proceedings. If that's how you feel, you shouldn't be in a courtroom," she told The Salt Lake Tribune on Friday.

"In retrospect, I should have just let him walk out of the courtroom. That was a mistake. But not a mistake I should be sanctioned for in the press."

So, if her concern was order in the court, why did the judge query Michael Jacobsen about hunting?

"I was interested in what his rationale was and since I wasn't trying the case, I didn't see any problem with that," she said. "I don't think it's inappropriate."

Salt Lake County District Attorney David Yocom said he was aware of the incident but declined to discuss whether his office was investigating, noting that judicial conduct complaints are not a matter of public record.
In Judge Himonas' courtroom, meanwhile, Michael Jacobson on Friday entered a plea in abeyance to wanton destruction of protected wildlife, a third-degree felony. He was sentenced to 24 months probation, during which time he cannot hunt and must pay $2,500 to an anti-poaching fund.

Kent Jacobson accompanied his brother to court again. This time, though, he stayed outside the courtroom.

panzermk2

10-27-2006, 12:16 PM

well she is a wack job, but in Her court room she pretty much has full reign. Even if she is removed from the bench in the future. You can be dead to rights and the judge completly wrong but as long as the judge is on the bench and in thier court they make the rules. Just the way it is.

AZMyrmidon

10-27-2006, 03:46 PM

well if he reloaded his 7mm K-31 right and used a silencer with a night vision scope (like all my weapons are equiped with) he would not have gotten caught ..............................................................................................................................................................................................................early april fool :p

btown02

10-27-2006, 03:48 PM

Welcome to the forum. Curt you ass. :D

DmL5

10-27-2006, 03:58 PM

well if he reloaded his 7mm K-31 right and used a silencer with a night vision scope (like all my weapons are equiped with) he would not have gotten caught .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. ......early april foolHello Curt. :D

gundoc

10-27-2006, 04:04 PM

he he he i couldnt help myself :p

gundoc

10-27-2006, 04:05 PM

wow 1 post and banned thats got to be a new record !!

btown02

10-27-2006, 04:11 PM

wow 1 post and banned thats got to be a new record !!
Nope, it's a tie with a bunch of others. :D

he he he i couldnt help myself :p
Remember I know where you live.:D

jmz5

10-27-2006, 04:31 PM

haha, that was a good one!

gundoc

10-27-2006, 04:40 PM

hey jmz5 you didnt welcome AZMyrmidon to the forum ..your slipping ;)

jmz5

10-27-2006, 05:03 PM

He didnt deserve a welcome. :D

btown02

10-27-2006, 05:05 PM

Someone needs to get their ducks in a row. The phone call is supposed to be before the post, not the other way around. :D

gundoc

10-27-2006, 05:27 PM

i sent you a pm...but you :SS the post so fast i couldnt dial the phone quick enough...gonna have to put ya on speed dial :D

btown02

10-27-2006, 06:06 PM

wow 1 post and banned thats got to be a new record !!
Looks like David gave you a pardon. :)

bulletguy

10-28-2006, 05:40 AM

According to the website http://www.utcourts.gov/directory/empdir/d3/3ddis.html,
(801)238-7513 is the number to reach that wackjob judge's office.
A nice little website can also be found at http://www.firejudgelewis.com

panzermk2

10-28-2006, 09:12 PM

He didnt deserve a welcome. :D

:SS :SS :SS :SS :SS :SS :SS

Fasi

10-31-2006, 04:23 PM

Based on all the negative press that she is getting here in Salt Lake, she's also now under investigation for illegally reducing the sentence of a child molester, she won't be on the bench much longer.

I intend to vote against her, and I'm not alone.

panzermk2

10-31-2006, 05:52 PM

COOL and who says voting doesn't count

Medula Oblongata

10-31-2006, 06:31 PM

...who says voting doesn't count

Uh, The Algore, for one...

panzermk2

10-31-2006, 06:36 PM

BLAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH you would come up with one example wouldn't you